I am a first year medical student who has a serious issues concentrating on the material and it's killing me and my grades. My grades are average when I could do so much better. It's just I can't bring myself to study as much. I have serious self discipline issues. I got into medical school not because I was disciplined but because high school here is easy (easy exams and very less assignments) and I did very well on standardized "IQ" tests (Major contributor in getting admitted into med school here). So it's safe to assume I'm not stupid, but I have been feeling that I am lately, and so often. It drives me crazy when I watch educational YouTube videos and get nothing of it because I can't bring myself to concentrate. I have to be really really interested in something so I could start to concentrate, it's hard to get myself that level of interested most of the times. It also annoys me that I can't finish books; I get interested when I wanna read something but only for the for first time I read that book then it's dull.

Also, it has been affecting my social life a bit and can't focus with people sometimes and would ask them often to repeat what they said. I have kinda bad memory and can remember events that took place a lot less compared to my friends.

Importantly, I went to a psychiatrist (actually two of them, one diagnosed me with Dysthymia) three months ago and he diagnosed me with ADD and prescribed me Concerta (18mg, 36mg by third week). It worked very well on the first two days but not anymore even after the dose been titrated. 36 mg caused me palpitations so I stopped taking that much anyway.

So what you guys thing I should do? Anyone has been through the same thing?

I don't know which stimulant meds are available where you live, but hopefully
more than just Concerta. It can be very frustrating trying different meds at
different doses to figure out which one works best for you, but it can be worth it.

Just because one med doesn't work well doesn't mean the diagnosis is wrong.
Also, some think the euphoric feeling means the med is working, and when that
wears off they think the med doesn't work anymore. It can be a good idea to
ask someone else if they can tell the difference when you're taking the meds
and when you're not. You may not realize the benefits that are happening.

__________________ADD is not a problem of knowing what to do; it is a problem of doing what you know.
-RUSSELL A. BARKLEY, PH.D.

As far as I know, there is nothing positive about ADHD that people can't have w out ADHD. ~ ADD me

Off the bat, I would say, make sure the dysthymia issue is treated. Depression ruins concentration and energy ...

Concerta is methlyphenidate ... extended release release format. There are a bunch of other methylphenidate medications, both extended release and immediate release. Just look at the medications sections of this forum ... just for methylphenidate there in addition to Concerta, Daytrana, Focalin, Metadate, Methylin, Ritalin ... and a bunch of these com in immediate release and extended release.

For whatever reason, it is very possible for people to have a very different response to a different form of what is officially the same medication. So try different versions, including the immediate release versions.

And then there is the amphetamine family of ADHD meds, like Adderall and Vyvanse and Dexedrine. You can try one of those meds ... and again, don't assume that all meds in this family work alike.

So in my view, trying one medication (and you don't say for how long) is barely a start. ADHD treatment (or really any treatment) doesn't produce overnight magic. It takes trial and error and adjustment to find the right medication and the right dose (by the way, did you try 27mg of Concerta?) with tolerable side effects.

(BTW: the palpations might have been a side effect that would go away over time ... I had some initial reactions like this on Concerta, but my body adjusted and they went away. It can take the body three weeks or so to adjust to a med such that the side effects aren't a problem ...

And all of this can be undermined if you have depression or anxiety ... so those conditions also need to be treated.